•Joined the British Army at the age of 21 in 1753.Washington wrote about one of his experiences in battle:“… I now exist and appear in the land of the living by the miraculous care of Providence…I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me yet escaped unhurt.”George Washington, Letter to John Augustine Washington, July 18, 1755

•Married Martha (Custis), a widow with two children in 1759

•A Virginia Delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774

•Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in 1775

•Victory over British Forces (Lord Cornwallis) at Yorktown , 1781

•President of the Constitutional Convention in 1787

•Unanimously elected 1st President of the United States (1789 - 1797) and took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City, the home of our Nation’s First Congress under the U.S. Constitution.“Without a predilection [preconceived preference] for my own judgment, I have weighed with attention every argument, which has at any time been brought into view.But the constitution is the guide, which I never will abandon.” George Washington, Letter to Boston Citizens, July 28, 1795

•America’s First Inaugural Address in 1789:“… it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official Act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe, who presides in the councils of Nations…”George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789

•Farewell Address in 1796:“… my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country…”George Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1796

•View on Slavery: “Both houses and slaves were bequeathed [willed] to us by Europeans…[and] nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our Union…”George Washington, (Quoted by John Bernard, English Actor), 1798

•Died at home (Mt. Vernon) at the age of 67 on December 14, 1799.Washington’s Birthday was declared a holiday in 1879.